My Sticker Mule labeling experience (2 Viewers)

[dmoney]

Wait, are you saying 30-40% failure for the printing? Or for you personally applying the labels?

@dmoney When you place your order, are you asking for any sort of guarantee that the labels will be printed on-center? This is a BIG issue and the primary reason why I didn't use Online Labels back when I did my first DIY labels on my china clays. I could accept a small percentage being slightly off-center and a few being unusable, but I'd want a guarantee of what those percentages are so that I could increase the order a little to cover for the errors.

I ordered ~2k k=labels for my limit set from Online Labels and didn't have major issues, although there were some.

I didn't ask for any guarantees because 1) if I recall, you basically agree to everything when you approve the art files 2) they have a tolerance window that they say everything fits into, and I think it'd be a uphill fight to get the to agree something is outside of their window 3) I'm willing to make minor concessions on quality for this project given the significant cost savings and goals of project.

Not asking more about this beyond what I already explored might end up being a learning for Sticker Mule-printed labels. I'll share what I learn once my labels arrive.

 

[CrazyEddie]

Since this thread is mostly about Sticker Mule but is also a good resource about labeling in general, I'll repost here my recent success with home-laminated home-cut labels:

This is what I use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08XSGFDH3/

It's a bit of a pain because it's a roll so when I cut them, they curl. I space out my labels into 4 quadrants in the print-and-cut area, and then cut the laminate into 4 smaller pieces, rather than trying to evenly apply a 6"x9" piece of laminate to the vinyl after printing before cutting. It's more time consuming but I end up with fewer errors, and the finish product looks really nice, like you can't tell there's a laminate on top of the printed vinyl.

Surprisingly hard to find flat laminate sheets in matte. Everything's in glossy.

I picked up a roll of the laminate you linked to and I freaking love it. I'm printing onto vinyl sticker sheets, then pressing the laminate on top of that, then cutting in the Cricut and they're turning out perfect. At least as far as the texture and sheen goes. The laminate is very slightly textured and has a matte finish, and the resulting labels are exactly what I want them to be. They're the perfect thickness to just barely not quite fill the Spirit Mold recess, and they look and feel veeeery niiiiice.

I've had pretty good luck applying the laminate to the sticker sheet. I trim the sticker sheet so that it's not much larger than the Cricut print-and-cut area, then put that on the Cricut mat, then cut a strip of laminate that's a little bit bigger than that. I lay that on top of the sticker sheet (with the laminate's backing still attached) so that the edges are in contact with the mat sticky area, and that helps keep it from curling up. Then I peel away the backing from half of the laminate and cut it away with a pair of scissors, then smooth down that half of the laminate back on top of the sticker sheet, which it adheres to. Then I lift up the other half, peel away its backing, and smooth it back down. Then I go over the whole thing with a rubber roller that came with the Cricut. I've done this twice so far and gotten good results.

My wife recently got a Cricut (the "Maker" model) with bonus bucks from her work. If you have one, or have access to one, I can say that it takes all the effort out of making your own labels - assuming you also have a high-quality printer. You need one of the models that can do "print-and-cut", not all of them can. I'm able to make labels the exact size of the Spirit Mold recesses: 1.1", which is an odd size you can't normally find in precut labels.

 

[joeyshin]

Since this thread is mostly about Sticker Mule but is also a good resource about labeling in general, I'll repost here my recent success with home-laminated home-cut labels:





My wife recently got a Cricut (the "Maker" model) with bonus bucks from her work. If you have one, or have access to one, I can say that it takes all the effort out of making your own labels - assuming you also have a high-quality printer. You need one of the models that can do "print-and-cut", not all of them can. I'm able to make labels the exact size of the Spirit Mold recesses: 1.1", which is an odd size you can't normally find in precut labels.

My wife has a cricut and she is very crafty. She is pretty gifted in all kinds of crafts. I showed her the labels I got from gear and she mentioned it would be pretty difficult to replicate consistently. The printing quality would require a much better printer than we have access too. The textured label on top isn’t easily applicable, nd the main part is the cricut would not cut nearly as accurate consistency as the gear labels come out. I tried to get her to do them for me, but she has insisted it would not even come close to the quality gear offers

 

[CrazyEddie]

she has insisted it would not even come close to the quality gear offers

I can believe that. I don't have any Gear labels, but I imagine he has top-notch equipment, supplies, and processes.

The results I've gotten are acceptable for what I'm trying to do. Registration is close but definitely not perfect, but my designs have enough bleed that I'm okay with registration being slightly off. The textured top label should be pretty easy to do; the rolled laminate I'm using has a very slight texture, but it's not hard to get other rolls with a more prominent texture, and applying the laminate was easy once I figured out a good technique.

Print quality is definitely a primary concern and will depend on what kind of printer you have access to.

 

[TheOffalo]

My wife has a cricut and she is very crafty. She is pretty gifted in all kinds of crafts. I showed her the labels I got from gear and she mentioned it would be pretty difficult to replicate consistently. The printing quality would require a much better printer than we have access too. The textured label on top isn’t easily applicable, nd the main part is the cricut would not cut nearly as accurate consistency as the gear labels come out. I tried to get her to do them for me, but she has insisted it would not even come close to the quality gear offers

I've never gotten Gear labels, but from their description, I'd agree that home made labels would likely not come close in quality. The laminates that seem to be available in the home market is pretty basic glossy or matte (but the former is much easier to find than the latter). I've yet to find anything that the patterned texture that I've seen on Gear labels.

(I've seen textured laminates designed for walls or car decals or other larger applications and if I can find a small quantity at a decent price, maybe I'll try them someday.)

The Cricuts with the print-and-cut function can cut very precisely because the printing (done on your own printer) includes registration marks that the Cricut can read. I made labels that were exactly 1.0625" (1 1/16" or 26.9875mm) for my Spirit Mold chips and they were perfectly sized but harder to apply because if you didn't do it perfectly, then they'd stick out of the circular recessed area. So I adjusted the labels to 1.05" instead and the Cricut was able to cut the labels that much smaller and helped me apply them to the center that much easier.

One big downside of the print-and-cut function is the printable area is only 6.75" by 9.25" on an 8.5"x11" piece of paper (cannot adjust the paper size), so it wastes a lot of space on a piece of printable vinyl sticker paper. Maybe someday they'll update their software to increase the printable area.

 

[TheOffalo]

Print quality is definitely a primary concern and will depend on what kind of printer you have access to.

I have an inkjet, not a color laser printer, and I wonder if printing by ink vs toner makes a difference. Various vinyl sticker paper state they are made to be used with inkjet-only, laser-only, or (mostly) both. The ones I got were inkjet compatible and I got good results with them. I actually found that I did not need to print super high quality or using a high DPI to get good results on the inkjet on glossy vinyl sticker paper.

These I think were just 300dpi raster graphics (using vector graphics would choke the Cricut Design Space software, since each label may have dozens of vector components, multiplied by dozens of labels means hundreds or thousands of components), and looked nice and clear with the laminate on top:

 

[TheOffalo]

My wife has a cricut and she is very crafty. She is pretty gifted in all kinds of crafts. I showed her the labels I got from gear and she mentioned it would be pretty difficult to replicate consistently. The printing quality would require a much better printer than we have access too. The textured label on top isn’t easily applicable, nd the main part is the cricut would not cut nearly as accurate consistency as the gear labels come out. I tried to get her to do them for me, but she has insisted it would not even come close to the quality gear offers

Forgot, I do have examples of Gear labels. @SeanGecko sent me some samples of 8V chips and I believe the labels are Gear (laminated, untextured). You can see the "dithering" on the print of my homemade label closeup, but you can also see on the dithering in the purple on the Gear label (and at normal size/distance the images look very clear). They both feel the same, and the graphics look like they're on the surface and not below a clear layer/cover.

If I do say so myself, I'd say my homemade laminated labels are pretty darn close to Gear's, but obviously I don't have the textured options that they offer. @joeyshin I think if your wife's willing to try to make labels for you (or if you want to take a crack at it yourself--the Cricut is not hard to figure out, but there'll be lots of trial and error), you might be pleasantly surprised!

(Sorry, didn't mean to threadjack.)

 

[joeyshin]

I have an inkjet, not a color laser printer, and I wonder if printing by ink vs toner makes a difference. Various vinyl sticker paper state they are made to be used with inkjet-only, laser-only, or (mostly) both. The ones I got were inkjet compatible and I got good results with them. I actually found that I did not need to print super high quality or using a high DPI to get good results on the inkjet on glossy vinyl sticker paper.

These I think were just 300dpi raster graphics (using vector graphics would choke the Cricut Design Space software, since each label may have dozens of vector components, multiplied by dozens of labels means hundreds or thousands of components), and looked nice and clear with the laminate on top:

View attachment 850779

View attachment 850780

Those look great

I’m beginning to think my wife was dissuading me from buying more chips lol. But forreal

 

[LeGold]

To those who've received their stickers from the mule - how precise is their cutting size compared to what has been ordered? If I'd want to fill a recess of 22.7-22.8 mm (just a tad larger than 7/8") as snugly as possible, what size should I order?

 

[Samuel]

To those who've received their stickers from the mule - how precise is their cutting size compared to what has been ordered? If I'd want to fill a recess of 22.7-22.8 mm (just a tad larger than 7/8") as snugly as possible, what size should I order?

Sorry I didn't reply earlier. I specified 31.5mm for mine. I didn't measure them after I got them (or before I relabelled all my chips) but I just measured a few that I have left on the sheets. Of the dozen or so labels I measured, they are pretty much dead on vertically - 31.5mm but they are slightly less horizontally - 31.3mm. I didn't notice the difference with my naked eye and out of the 930 or so chips, there were only maybe half a dozen that very slightly overlapped the edges of the hollow (were too big). I wouldn't be able to tell you if that was due to oversized labels or poor chip quality control (but my guess would be the latter). For my project, the off-center stickers were more of an "issue" than them slightly being oval, YMMV...

 

[LeGold]

Sorry I didn't reply earlier. I specified 31.5mm for mine. I didn't measure them after I got them (or before I relabelled all my chips) but I just measured a few that I have left on the sheets. Of the dozen or so labels I measured, they are pretty much dead on vertically - 31.5mm but they are slightly less horizontally - 31.3mm. I didn't notice the difference with my naked eye and out of the 930 or so chips, there were only maybe half a dozen that very slightly overlapped the edges of the hollow (were too big). I wouldn't be able to tell you if that was due to oversized labels or poor chip quality control (but my guess would be the latter). For my project, the off-center stickers were more of an "issue" than them slightly being oval, YMMV...

Perfect, thanks. So, basically dead-on and at least not bigger than what is said (which is most important).

 

[dmoney]

The good:

• price
• quality/value
• speed
• customer service (for the most part)
• hex color matching from @QuailValley

The bad:

• There was a miscommunication, with my labels getting printed at 6/8" instead of 7/8", so they won't work. As it's a custom order, they don't accept refunds but did extend me a credit to cover a good portion of reprinting the correct size. It's annoying, but it'll still end up cheaper and faster than some other methods. I'm filing this under "know better next time."

tl;dr

• I think I'm going to end up really happy with this project, and also really pleased to have found another possible label vendor for projects that are cost-sensitive or what I would consider "non-premium."

If anyone wants a sample of what their actual labels look like, I'm happy to send some out for a couple of bucks to cover shipping. Reply here or send me a pm.

If you're curious, "Ugly Bicycles" is the condition of some of the $1s and $5s, and all of the $25 chips set before I cleaned, oiled and rehabbed them. So "bike tires" was the inspiration for the name. I did the design work myself.

 

[LeGold]

• There was a miscommunication, with my labels getting printed at 6/8" instead of 7/8",

But....... how?

 

[dmoney]

But....... how?

At some point in the fairly extended back and forth, they said 6/8" and I must have missed it.

I ultimately approved the order, so it's on me. It's not the sort of error that I would catch in proofing the art itself, and why 6/8" was even suggested when the title of our email thread is literally "22mm or 7/8" round labels" is beyond me.

 

[Colquhoun]

Don’t they reduce their fractions? I mean, it would be much easier to catch if it said 3/4 inch instead of 6/8.

6/8 is a silly size.

 

[dmoney]

Posted samples here - let me know if you want one. Plenty for anyone who wants one.

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Don’t they reduce their fractions? I mean, it would be much easier to catch if it said 3/4 inch instead of 6/8.

6/8 is a silly size.

I'm betting it's 6/8 because someone on their end fat keyed it when entering the order. Everyone involved knew it was supposed to be 7/8ths. But their typo on the final order that nobody caught is what went to production.

 

[SixSpeedFury]

@JT2021

 

[dmoney]

Before/after with the correct 7/8” size (and I changed the $25).

Love em! Would definitely recommend sticker mule for murdered/milled chips.

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Before/after with the correct 7/8” size (and I changed the $25).

Love em! Would definitely recommend sticker mule for murdered/milled chips.

View attachment 862658

NOTICEABLY better! Did you also increase some of the font sizes? Especially on the quarter it seems to be more than just 1/8th bigger.

 

[LeGold]

Before/after with the correct 7/8” size (and I changed the $25).

Love em! Would definitely recommend sticker mule for murdered/milled chips.

View attachment 862658

Sweet! You got a caliper to check the exact width of the finished stickers, compared to what was ordered?

 

[dmoney]

NOTICEABLY better! Did you also increase some of the font sizes? Especially on the quarter it seems to be more than just 1/8th bigger.

Thanks! Yes, I increased the font sizes, made the bicycle underneath a bit thicker, and changed the inlay shape of the $25.

Sweet! You got a caliper to check the exact width of the finished stickers, compared to what was ordered?

I didn’t measure, but if I don’t apply the label very carefully it won’t fit in the 7/8” cavity, and even if I do there’s only a millimeter or so left. I’m really happy with the size despite not measuring.

 

[TonZaga]

I print small batch stickers and decided to try my hand at my cash set when the blank Royals were first released. It was a labor of love but powered through printing 500 labels, laying cold matte laminate, cutting with a little bleed to ensure black edges, and applying. I think they look great and everyone at my games seems to like them better than our old dice chips LOL

I hate that the online sticker guys can't cut a precise circle to fit specific inlays very easily but they do have the advantage of a spray laminate in most cases to eliminate additional thickness

 

[Markincolo]

Just wanted to share my experience with Sticker Mule. I recently bought a set of 12 stripes and wanted to get labels custom printed for them. I went thru all the usual sites for custom poker chip labels etc, including gear ( he was just too overbooked btw). When I stumbled upon a custom sticker maker called Sticker Mule. They are not in the poker chip labeling business, but custom stickers for just about anything. Amazing reviews so I decided to email them. Within hours I received an email back. The customer service from these folks was absolutely amazing. From beginning to end actually. They had me sold from the first email. Just from the prompt service and kindness. She informed me yes they are vinyl labels that are then laminated. They cut the sticker to whatever you send them. It could be a sticker of Superman and they would cut around the pic. In other words I was convinced they would be centered labels in a circle verses printed on a circle which always leave room for error. I went ahead and ordered enough labels for the set I was trying to complete. The issue was they only let you order in quantities of 10. I only needed 25 sheets. But had to order 30.

When they arrived less than a week later, I was amazed of the quality. Freaking awesome. I can't say enough about them. Beautiful.
A few weeks went by and I wanted another batch for another set. This time on their website I noticed a different size that I didn't notice last time. Last time I ordered 8.5" x 11" and was limited a little. Anyways to make a too long story shorter... If you order their custom sticker sheet and click the custom size button, you can pick any size paper to print on. I emailed them and asked how large the paper would be for 100 1" circles... 12" x 12" is what they said. Ok so for 10 sheets of that would cost $97. With free shipping and will receive in less than 10 days... Vinyl, laminated... 1000 labels... For 500 chips... $97? That's less than 10¢ a label... I saved like $40 doing thier custom size sheets... The key is to get all the different labels on one sheet and only order 10 sheets.
Anyways... Just want to share my experience, and I can't say how happy I am with the entire experience with them. I love my labels. And I will really love my second set at an even cheaper price!!!
Top quality company. Check them out!

Ok, I hope this comes thru ok. My glass on my camera lens is broken also, so probably could be a little better image on my end. View attachment 693784

Can you share where you got that chip? Was it blank?

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Can you share where you got that chip? Was it blank?

That's a NexGen Lucky Bees chip. Injection molded plastic and slugged. Probably one of the better slugged chips you'll find.

And yes, they typically came blank when they were new, but they're not made any more so a lot of them now have custom labels.

 

[Markincolo]

Thanks. I really like it, very unique look and you label complimented it perfectly.

 

[LeGold]

Hm, so. I have some intricate details on my stickers, and their art department said it might not print well. They are complaining about lines thinner than 0.5 pt and text smaller than 6pt. Has anyone had a similar issue and how did it work out? It's white/yellow lines on black background and I'd really prefer not having to change that.
They do not want to do a print proof, only if I order and pay for 10 small sheets.

 

[DurangoKWest]

Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiibs

 

[dmoney]

Another small order incoming. 120x 7/8” labels (10 of these sheets). $26.50 shipped ~22c per. Not bad for a small order.

 

[philhut]

That's a NexGen Lucky Bees chip. Injection molded plastic and slugged. Probably one of the better slugged chips you'll find.

And yes, they typically came blank when they were new, but they're not made any more so a lot of them now have custom labels.

Ok, I hope this comes thru ok. My glass on my camera lens is broken also, so probably could be a little better image on my end. View attachment 693784

Wow I really need to get on with labeling these chips.... I have only had them for a good 16 years or so. only thing holding me back is that labels cost more than the chips did. I have several other nicer sets but am glad that my lucky bees have never been sold despite listing them a few times. colors are great and reflect what I played at the time in approx 2003/4. The home game I commonly played in used those suited chips from Walmart so the lucky bees were a huge upgrade and were used for both cash and tourney (nobody dared cheat at that game with chips...).cash/tournament denims were... whites played as $1/25ncv, red $5/100ncv, blue $10/500ncv, black $100/1000ncv, yellow played as sometimes 1000 or 5000ncv chips. The purples were added a couple of years ago in a random find on Amazon. I bought green, blue and purple chips listed but only a rack of purple ever showed up the rest were cancelled by the seller so I have 1100 total.
Ideas I have are
- sloth club roulettes
- themed chips for my daughter Ruby, ie Ruby's Border Casino in Cambodia (a real place)
- or why change now